Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Michael Chiesa out of UFC on Fox 5 prelims due to illness

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Less than a week before UFC on Fox 5, another fight has been lost from the event. Heavyweight Lavar Johnson was forced out of the event last week with a pulled groin, dropping his fight with Brendan Schaub, and the UFC announced late Sunday night that Ultimate Fighter 15 winner Michael Chiesa has had to drop out as well.

Chiesa was scheduled to face Marcus LeVesseur on the card, but has been forced out of the event after falling ill. He would have been making his first appearance since winning the reality show's first live tournament in June, and would have been doing so in his home state of Washington. This unfortunately will not allow him to do that.

LeVesseur was his second scheduled opponent after Rafaello Oliveira came up injured, and now he's likely off the card as well. That would bring the card down to 11 of a previously 13 scheduled fights, and would shift another one of the night's preliminary card fights onto the three-hour FX prelims broadcast.

Penick's Analysis: That's disappointing news. It must have been something severe illness-wise to take him out of the event six days before, and it's really unfortunate for both he and LeVesseur. It could have been an entertaining preliminary card fight, and now Chiesa misses out on fighting in front of his hometown, while LeVesseur misses out on an opportunity to pick up a big win. Dana White may have jinxed himself last week, joking for everyone to tone it down in training. Obviously this one wasn't an injury, but losing two fights in the final ten days before an event is far from ideal.